Alessandro Blasetti | |
|---|---|
 Blasetti in 1965 | |
| Born | (1900-07-03)3 July 1900 |
| Died | 1 February 1987(1987-02-01) (aged 86) Rome, Italy |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1917–1981 |
Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influencedItalian neorealism with the filmFour Steps in the Clouds. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during theFascist era. He is sometimes known as the "father of Italian cinema" because of his role in reviving the struggling industry in the late 1920s.[1]
Blasetti was born inRome, where he also died.[2] After studyinglaw atuniversity, Blasetti chose to become ajournalist andfilm critic. He worked for several filmmagazines and led a campaign for national film production, which had largely ceased by this point.[3] In 1919 he made a brief foray into acting when he appeared as an extra inMario Caserini'sTortured Soul.
In 1929 Blasetti made his directorial debut withSun, a fictional story set against the ongoing draining of thePontine Marshes. The film was well received at a time when there were few Italian films being made.Benito Mussolini described it as "the dawn of the Fascist film".[4] Like many of his early productions, it had elements that were a precursor to neorealism.
The strong reception forSun led to Blasetti receiving an offer fromStefano Pittaluga, the only significant commercial producer left working in Italy at the time. Pittaluga had recently converted his Rome studios forsound films. Blasetti directed what would have been the first Italian sound filmResurrection, but delays meant that it was released afterGennaro Righelli'sThe Song of Love.[5]
In 1934 Blasetti directed the play18 BL a "mass theatre" performed outdoors with 2,000amateur actors.[6]
Blasetti was a driving force in the revival of the Italian film industry in the 1930s, having lobbied for greater state funding and support. One outcome was the construction of the largeCinecittà studios inRome.
His approach to budget and use of regular people, non-professional actors, also set a precedent that followed in the form of Neo-Realism. In addition, his range of film genres was unique for its time in which set directors played to given and set styles, such as comedy and drama. Instead, his work involved from historic to comedy to drama to theatre content.
He played himself inLuchino Visconti's filmBellissima starred byAnna Magnani, a Roman mother who desires to make her daughter a filmstar inCinecittà where Blasetti makes the screen test for the child actors.
He was president of the jury at the1967 Cannes Film Festival. His 1969 filmSimón Bolívar was entered into the6th Moscow International Film Festival.[7]
